Volkswagen Motorsport director Sven Smeets says Volkswagen’s previous sporting success in the WRC will help it assist its racing customers in their own gravel-flinging endeavours.

Volkswagen Motorsports’ last Polo secured a manufacturer title before departing.

“With the Polo GTI R5 we are hoping to transfer our expertise from four WRC titles to customer racing successfully, and offer a first-class racing machine for countless rally championships from national series to the WRC,” says Smeets.

“Before the first race outing next year, we will subject the Polo GTI R5 to rigorous testing to make sure it is prepared for the extremely varied track conditions around the world.”